Pillars of Eternity 2 revisits multiclassing in new dev video

The mechanics of multiclassing in Pillars of Eternity 2 have undergone a rethink, and Obsidian would like to tell you why and how. That’s what this new backer video is all about. Well, that and demonstrating Josh Sawyer’s Sorkin-like walk-and-talk techniques.

Multiclassing presents some design problems; allowing characters to dabble in several talent trees can make them either far too powerful, or spread too thin. It sounds the original plans for Pillars of Eternity 2 still resulted in some characters not being viable. So, they’ve had another go at figuring out the balance.

Remember, each class has a subclass too, so the number of combinations available when you introduce multiclassing are … well, you can see how Sawyer reacts in the video. Anyway, under the old system players were going to pick an ability from one of their character classes every level.

Now, you receive an ability from each class when you reach a new level. But multiclass characters now level up more slowly than single class ones, and don’t ever have access to the very best abilities in each line. However, they will end up with more powers overall.

Here’s the video, featuring a look at some multiclass characters in action, and the ability trees that will be present in Pillars of Eternity 2 to help you plan out your character.